I found a beautiful neutered male cat, under a car in a commercial parking lot, and brought him home where my kids instantly fell in love with the "Ditty". I've searched the area for "missing" signs, called the Humane Society, posted a sign on PETS911. We still need to take him to the vet to see if he has a chip in, and I'll do that this weekend. What else do I need to do before the kids can name him???
He's a big, healthy boy, and likes to stay inside, so I am guessing he was well cared for.
Lovemy4 is a discussion leader for North Central Phoenix, tired mother of 4 great kids and wife to one great husband.
Make sure they understand
Make sure they understand that many cats have chips under their skin with the owner's name, so they're not too disappointed when the kitty has to go home. Also, we found a dog that would have kept her because she had no chip and no one seemed to be looking for her, but then we found out she would need $5,000 worth of surgeries, so keep that in mind, too.
We found a dog once (and
We found a dog once (and still have him) that we looked for his owners, posted signs, etc. even posting an ad in the newspaper, which by the way the AZ Republic will or at least they used to post lost and found animal ads for free so you might want to check into doing that before taking on ownership. He didn't have a chip (we checked) so we kept him.
Thank you for being so
Thank you for being so responsible about taking in the new pet--it's encouraging to hear things like this.
Just a thought, but here's what we've done in similar situations. Besides checking for others' "missing" signs and putting a notice in the paper (all good moves), I had my son make a "Found Cat" poster, which we put up in and around the neighborhood where we found our cat.
It was a hard thing he didn't want to do, but it made the lack of response about her from others that much more sweet when we got to keep her since there was no chip. We got two phonecalls inquiring about other cats that didn't meet the description, but none for her. After a 10 days waiting on tenterhooks, and a vet check, we took down the posters that were left and got the cat a tag and collar.
I can say that our story had a happy ending, and the cat is still with us. She's great. Good luck with yours!
Sounds like you've thought
Sounds like you've thought of everything but I do agree with the "Found Cat'' signs idea. And I would prepare the kids that there's always a chance the owners will turn up.
Susie is a discussion leader in the east valley for arizonamoms.com. She has two sons, ages 7 and 3.
If worse comes to worse and
If worse comes to worse and someone claims him (which I hope for your sake doesn't happen), and you've gotten used to the idea of having a new cat, there are always lots more neutered cats at shelters that need good homes.... We just adopted one before Christmas at a shelter and he's wonderful.
DesertMom
http://ppdsurvivor.blogspot.com
This happened to me just
This happened to me just last week. My little boy found a dog in our driveway and we took her in. I put up signs, posted a notice online, sent out mass emails to my neighbors and got nothing. Finally, I took the dog to the vet and had her scanned--she actually had a chip and so I returned her to her owner, who cried and thanked me. I was glad the story had a happy ending but couldn't help wondering where the owner's signs were?! P.S. she just moved into my neighborhood a few weeks ago, and lives right down the street! Anyway, I do hope all works out well for your family and the kitty cat. It's just about impossible not to fall in love with a lost animal.